


When Demon, Witch, and Wraith Collide

by wyrmsandrocs



Series: Demon Witch and Wraith [2]
Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Help, I'll add tags as i write this, Multi, SPOILERS!!!!!!, my children, my fave ship, no Nsfw, spoiler city, this is post canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyrmsandrocs/pseuds/wyrmsandrocs
Summary: It has been months since Nina went home, Inej left Ketterdam, and now the crew is divided. Nina Is dealing with Matthais's death, and Inej tries to help her. Kaz discovers that his girlfriend's girlfriend is really wonderful, and subsequently falls in love.The Barrel adds two women to the Dirtyhands legend.





	1. Ravka Once More

**Author's Note:**

> Note: My fic Departure is a prologue to this, it's the previous work in this series, but here's the link just in case.
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/10696581

It had been a month since Inej had left Ketterdam, and she was still amazed that she was free. She loved to scale the ropes of the ship, feeling the sea wind on her face. Her crew was slowly making their way across the sea to Ravka. Her plan was to stay in Ravka for a few weeks before returning home. Home. She replayed the word in her head, and realized she didn’t just mean to Kerch, but also to Kaz. In the time she had been away she hadn’t stopped thinking about their kiss. She was thrilled he had been brave enough to try and strong enough to succeed, but she was terrified that he wouldn’t care as much when she returned, that the slow progress they had made towards some semblance of a relationship would be gone. She tried not to think about that part too much, though, focusing on the sea in front of her and her friend waiting in Ravka.

 

It had been two months since Nina had come to Ravka with Kuwei, and, while she was glad to be back, it just didn’t feel right. Every time she climbed into bed she expected to feel Matthais there with her, and every morning she expected to hear his voice. She had said her goodbyes in Fjerda, but he wasn’t really gone. She could feel him, lingering with her. She had tried to move on, reconnected with those of her old friends that were around, grown closer to Kuweii, but she found herself missing Wylan and Jesper, even Kaz, but especially Inej. She was thrilled when she got word that she was en route to Ravka, but it had been a full month without any news and Nina had lost hope that she was coming anytime soon.

Inej was shocked when she saw Nina. She looked like death. There were bags under her eyes and she had lost noticeable weight; Inej knew something was wrong. She hugged her friend tightly, sensing the fragility in her smile.  
“Thank you for coming to meet me,” Inej said.  
“You were the one that crossed the ocean,” Nina laughed, but it sounded off.  
“I couldn’t stay away any longer.” She pulled away and grinned.  
“Well, care to explore Ravka while your here?” She gestured to the city around them.  
“Definitely, but first I want to explore your favorite waffle place, turns out there aren’t many waffles on the ocean,” Inej laughed, lacing her fingers through Nina’s.  
“Waffles are always a wise place to start,” she nodded with mock gravity.  
When they arrived to the little restaurant, Nina started asking Inej all sorts of questions about the journey.  
“Where did you stop on the way here?”  
“Well, there weren’t many places to stop, we came here almost directly, except for stopping once or twice at little islands to ask about local slave trade and restock supplies. This was mostly a scouting mission,” Inej answered in between bites of waffle.  
“Oh yeah, that makes sense.” It did not escape the Suli girl’s attention that Nina wasn’t really eating her food.  
“Nina, have you been alright since you left Ketterdam?” Inej took her hand and searched her eyes.  
“Yeah, I’ve been holding up.” Nina smiled, but looked away quickly and let it drop. “No,” her voice was quiet, “I haven’t really been sleeping. I keep expecting him to be there with me.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“I’m glad you’re here, though.”  
There was a long pause.  
“Kaz kissed me, before I left.” Inej’s voice was low and she looked down at their hands.  
“He did?” Nina’s eyes widened.  
“Yeah. I was shocked. But he did it.”  
“Once? twice? more? How soon before you left? Are you officially dating yet?” There was hope in Nina’s voice, but also a tinge sadness.  
“Once, less than ten minutes before I left. I don’t know.” Her eyes were full of confusion.  
“For Kaz, I think that means you are.” Nina smiled tentatively.  
“Me too.”  
“I’m happy for you two.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Can I show you around the city?”  
“I’d love that.”  
Nina’s tour was wonderful, and by the time the sun was setting they had covered most of Os Kervo. Nina led Inej back to her house, which was a beautiful place in the better part of the city, but nothing as huge as the Van Eck mansion. She brought out drinks and they sat together on the couch in front of the fire.  
“It’s been really hard without Matthais,” Nina admitted, staring into the flames. “I was so excited to introduce him to my home. I can’t believe he’s gone, Inej.” Her voice was nearly a whisper. “I mean, it’s been nice to be back here, but,” she paused, “I miss you all. Even Kaz.” She laughed, and Inej joined in.  
“He’s not an easy person to miss.”  
“True, but I do. I missed you the most though.” There was a stretch of silence. “How did you notice something was wrong. Do I look that bad?” there was no humor in her laugh.  
“You look like you did when you were recovering from Parem. Not bad, but not well.”  
“Well, it’s good to know I look like a zombie.”  
Inej took Nina’s hand. “I’m sorry.”  
“It’s alright. I haven’t been sleeping; It feels too cold, too much like death...” Her voice faded out. They sat in a comfortable silence until Inej yawned.  
“I take it being captain of a ship doesn’t come with a whole lot of rest?” Nina asked, smiling.  
“Not that much, no. I’m happy to be back on land.” She smiled back, yawning again.  
“Let’s remedy that lack of rest, you should get all you can while you’re here.” Nina yawned as well, glaring playfully at Inej. “Now you’ve got me doing it.”  
“You should try to sleep too.” Inej looked and Nina seriously.  
“I will. Now c’mon, lemme show you the guest room.” She stood and led the smaller girl to a lovely bedroom.  
“Thank you, Nina.” She smiled and hugged her friend.  
“I’m glad you made it.” She hugged back. “Now, Captain, you should rest.” She laughed and shooed Inej into the room, making them both laugh. “I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything.”  
“Goodnight,” Inej said quietly.  
“Night.” Nina said as the other girl closed the door.


	2. Rest and Preparation

Nina wasn’t sure how long she had been lying in bed, but it felt like an eternity. She knew that Inej would be able to tell if she hadn’t slept, but she didn’t know how to force herself into sleep. She also didn’t know if she would be able to wake up again if she managed it. The moon streaming through the window had crept several feet across the floor by the time Nina thought about giving up on sleep. It was then that she felt the bed shift. It was a large bed, one she had assumed she would be sharing with Matthais. She looked behind her and saw that Inej had her hand on the mattress.  
“Do you mind?” Inej asked quietly.  
“Please do.” Nina scooted over and the other girl crawled in with her. The warmth her body brought made Nina’s muscles relax, and her mind calm. It felt like life.  
Nina thought back to when she was recovering from the Parem. She had been unable to sleep for weeks after the fact, everything too cold, too big. Matthais tried to help her, but that only made it worse, she couldn’t stop imagining how he would react if she didn’t wake up again. After a few nights she asked him to leave.  
But then Inej offered, and Nina accepted. Every night Inej would be there with her when she fell asleep and stay there until she woke up again with the promise of waking her if she appeared to be slipping away. Nina felt like she could let Inej take care of her, since she had taken care of Inej after Oomen stabbed her.  
With Inej’s help she was able to find sleep again, safe in the knowledge that she would wake up. And so when her friend came to sleep next to her, she knew that she was safe. That they were both safe. Sleep came easily, and she was not afraid.

In the morning, Inej woke with Nina’s arm over her shoulders, and she smiled, glad that she had slept. Based on the sunlight coming in through the window she figured that it must be mid-morning. She wanted to sneak away and make Nina breakfast, but she knew that it would be better for her if she was there when her friend woke up, so she enjoyed the calm steadiness of the ground beneath them and the rhythm of their breathing.  
Although she loved the sea and the freedom that her ship brought her, she was glad to be back where the floor didn’t move with every swell. She was going to ask Nina later if she would take her to the edge of what used to be the Unsea, and to the statue of Sankta Alina. She never thought that she would be able to come here to the place where the Sankta had defeated the darkness.  
It was then that Nina stirred, yawning. She moved her arm away and stretched, and Inej turned over and laughed. The girl’s hair was flopped entirely over her face, and when she moved it away parts of it curled up at odd angles.  
“Ugh, my hair look ridiculous, doesn’t it?” Nina grinned.  
“A little ridiculous, yeah.” Inej grinned back.  
“See, this is why I don’t sleep, it messes up my hair,” she joked.  
“Sleep is more important that hair,” Inej pointed out.  
“True.” They lay there for a few more minutes, each enjoying the calm.  
“Thank you, Inej.” Nina said earnestly.  
“I’m glad you slept.”  
“Me too. But now I need to go and tame this monster that is my hair,” She said, sitting and stretching.  
“Benefits of braiding your hair, it’s less of a hassle,” Inej stood and ran her hand over her braid. A few strands had escaped, but it was braided tightly enough that most of it was still in place.  
“True, but cons of braiding your hair is then the braid presses into your shoulder and back when it’s under you.” Nina started towards the door, opening it.  
“Also true, but thats less of a pain then having to deal with tangles.” Inej stepped out after her, smiling. She had missed this. Nina disappeared down the hall, and Inej made her way to the sitting room where they had talked last night, sitting in an armchair to undo her braid.  
Her dark hair fell around her shoulders, kinked from being to tightly braided, but she combed through it with her hands and wove it back into its tight and manageable form. She quickly made her way back to the guest room that she spent less than half the night in, and changed into one of the spare outfits that she had brought along with her.  
When she came back out into the hall she heard Nina humming. She found her making tea in the kitchen, smiling as she brought the glasses out into the sitting room, setting it on the small table near the couch.  
“Here,” Nina handed her one of the glasses.  
“Thank you.” Inej took the glass and breathed in the steam. “It smells good.”  
“I hope it tastes good, too,” Nina laughed and sipped her own tea.  
“Mm, it does.” Inej nodded.  
“Glad you like it.”  
“So did you have any plans for today?” Inej asked.  
“Not really, I was going to ask if there was anything in particular that you wanted to see. I figured you might want to visit the edge of the Shadowfold and Alina’s statue.”  
“I was just going to ask you about that. Isn’t it farther inland?”  
“Yes, but I was thinking that a little road travel wasn’t out of the question. There’s a statue in Novokribirsk, as well as one in Kribirsk. The first one is a lot closer, and on what was the Fold. If we hurry it should only take two days to get there.”  
“If you don’t mind taking me there, I would love that.”  
“I don’t mind at all. I haven’t been there yet, either, since I got back.”  
“I have two weeks here, before I need to go back to Ketterdam.” Inej took a long drink of her tea.  
“Okay.” Nina felt a twinge of sadness that she only got two weeks with her before she had to leave again.  
“Can we leave for Novokribirsk tomorrow? I’m not sure how much preparation we need.”  
“Not a lot, I might want to pick up some food to bring, and see about means of travel. I haven’t really thought about travel that much. There’s a small town about halfway there that we should be able to stop at for the night.”  
“If you want we can split up and get ready today, if that would make it easier,” Inej offered.  
“I don’t think its that much to do, a few stops, but if you would rather we can.”  
“If it isn’t too much to do, I’d much rather stick together.” Inej took Nina’s hand.  
“Me too.”  
“How has Kuweii been, is he still in Os Kervo?”  
“Yeah, he wanted to let the dust settle from the whole fiasco with his death before heading up to the Little Palace. He found an Inferni to work with him for the time being though.”  
“That’s good. I’m glad that he’s settling in here alright.”  
“Me too. I was worried about how everything would go down with the Inferni, if he would recognize him, but it was fine.”  
“I’d like to see him, after we get back from Novokribirsk.”  
“That would be nice. I’ll see if he wants to meet us in a couple days, but now we should start getting ready for tomorrow.” Nina stood, taking the empty glasses, glad to be with Inej again.

 

Despite the short list of what they needed to get, it took them longer than expected, mainly because Nina kept telling Inej about the history of different places in the city that she had either skipped or forgotten the previous day. All in all, it was nearing dusk when they returned to Nina’s house. They had gathered all they needed and made plans to pay to take two horses for the trip.  
“We should be able to get to the middle town at around nightfall if we leave early tomorrow. There’s a pretty reliable road, so we should be okay. Besides, what trouble would a powerful Grisha and the Wraith get into on a trip like this?” She laughed.  
“Oh, we could get into plenty of trouble,” she laughed too, glad to see Nina happy, “but the important thing is getting back out of it.”  
“Very true, my dear, very true.”   
“We should sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.” Inej looked at the bags beneath her friend’s eyes.  
“Yeah, we probably we should,” She sighed. “Will you sleep with me again?” Her voice was quiet.  
“Of course.” She took her hand and smiled gently.  
“Thank you.” Nina smiled too, lacing their fingers together.

That night Nina smiled as she fell asleep, the warmth of her friend beside her bringing her peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short, but a little longer than the last one, so yay! Sorry about the length, but I'm hoping that if I keep them short I can update more often. Let me know what you think! ^u^

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I'll try to update on a semi-regular basis, but I'm struggling to finish school so it maybe kind of sporadic.


End file.
